Marcelino Pão e Vinho

An user pointed out that some imdb reviews (particularly the early one) were very negative ;but in spite of a huge success,many leftish (Marxist ?) comments were scathing too when the movie was released :remember that Spain was a dictatorship and a French critic went as far as to write that 'if Christ allows the mother-and -child reunion ,it's in a better world ,and thus it solves the problem of the orphanages maintenance".

Today ,when compared to the Joselito Jimenez weepies,which have sunk into oblivion, "Marcelino pan y vino " holds up quite well .That a great director such Luigi COMENCINI made a remake is proof positive that the movie has worn well ,even though today's children may not get something out of it.

Everyone will agree that Pablito Calvo gives one of the best child actor performances of all time ;one can,however ,prefer to the scenes in the attic :

-the bread which diminishes ,much to the monk /cook's surprise .

-the fair ,where the stolen apple creates a "butterfly effect" in miniature .

-the boy learning his alphabet,under a monk's watchful eye.

-the meeting with the woman with a madonna face(wish she could be my mama).

-the hidden treasures in the wall.

A baby loses his parents and is left at the door to a monastery. The monks take him in and he grows into a mischievous but essentially good little boy. One day he sneaks into the attic and sees a life-sized image of Jesus on the cross...

For pre-teens and younger, a parent should probably watch it with them, since some children will be disturbed by the ending. With understanding, this film helps the viewer to grow a little in faith, hope and love.

... well, that is all I really wanted to say, but IMDb now requires ten lines of text for a review. I noticed the early reviews of Marcelino were extremely negative. If you have a lot of anger towards Christ or the Church, you will *not* like this film since it shows different types of people turning their hearts towards Jesus to varying degrees. This is not sinister propaganda, but the way the world really is. Christians are not the monsters you imagine them to be. If the Nazis *had* made films like this, as one reviewer suggested, instead of the inspirations to resentment and violence they actually did make, the world might have been a better place. Peace to all.

My Dad loved this film My Dad lost his parents and sister in the same month when he was just 5 years old

I don't know if that is why he has almost a reverence for this movie, but he always would look through the channels and the tv guide to find out if it would be airing during the Christmas season. Dad passed away just about a week before Christmas in 2002. He was 81 Each year as Christmas approaches, I find myself looking through the channels and the tv listings to find out if it will be airing during the Christmas season. The actor playing Marcelino did an amazing job expressing innocence, wonder, and an inner sadness when remembering his Mom who he never really got a chance to know. The cinematography...angles, vistas etc. are top notch. The short scenes make the film seem almost dreamlike, jumping from one short poignant topic to the other. The simple, peaceful presentation contrasts to a lot of other films which scream at you to keep you paying attention. This film does not need to do that. Next December, I will find myself scanning the channels and looking through the tv listings.....

January 2006, and we're talking about a film made in 1955! I too saw this movie possibly 50 years ago and have never forgotten it. I tried to get some more information on it in Sydney with our so called movie experts but got nowhere. The internet was not much help either, then last week, lo and behold, I found a DVD in "Parklea Market" Sydney Australia (sort of organised flea market) And it was selling for 5 Australian dollars (perhaps 2.5 Euros). Only one problem the tittle was "The miracle of Marcelino" ... It had to be the same though so I bought it. I could not wait to run it on my DVD player... and there it was "Marcelino Pan y Vino"! Yes try to search for Marcelino pan y vino, chances is you'll get nothing. Of course the reason I'm here is because of my newly acquired knowledge of its English title. I then was a little boy in France and I think the film was in Spanish with french subtitle. I personally think the dubbed version does some damage to the integrity of this beautiful story. I have to be honest here too. I found the movie rather rusty in the light of the ever growing technology in this field and I don't agree that the music is beautiful; it's markedly aged and I don't think I'd like a sound system with this quality.

But what a reunion, I had almost given up any hope to see it again. I think My parents took me to watch it in Paris. They were non religious as I am now. They only love it for it's beauty and artistic value. I'm pretty sure if you're reading this you've read other entry and you already know the story, so I won't go into it. I just hope you'll give it a chance in your lounge room, I think the reward will be great

mm Feb. 2006. I had to come back to this movie and read more commentaries since I was here. I felt saddened by some, expressing some kind of paranoia or just pure negativism. One entry asked us to take off our "rosy" glasses to watch this movie... For one I wish I could find my 'rosy' glasses again as the world I see today needs badly to be seen through such device or we'll soon run out of Prozac. Then people wear all kind of glasses with all kind of colours and so see things accordingly that is not to say that other should join in. I wander what colour of glasses Mother Theresa, "l'abbe Pierre" or the like of them wore to achieve what they did. I see Marcelino Bread and Wine" as a simple,touching and beautiful story despite not having entering a church for decades. MM PS Having mentioned my difficulty to search this tittle I tried again because I forgot to bookmark it. This time I made sure to enter in the search field "The miracle of Marcelino" and for result got : Marcelino Pan y Vino (Aka the miracle of Marcelino)...How this for contradiction!

After 49 years, the memory of seeing this movie remains very fresh. Because, you see, I was the English voice of Marcellino in the dubbed version of "Marcellino Pan y Vino" that was, from the comments I've read, shown in just about every Catholic school in North America. Back in 1958, my parents and I were living in Rome, Italy--my dad was stationed at the American Embassy. I was about 8 years old. My mother saw an ad in the American newspaper looking for English-speaking voices to dub in the dialog in European-made movies slated for export. We went to the famous Cinecitta' studios, I auditioned, and got the job. "Marcellino" was the second or third movie I did. From what I recall, it took a couple of days to do, and I was only allowed to see the scenes that I actually had lines in, and they weren't many, when you come right down to it. I stood on a platform before a lectern in a very large studio facing a screen and microphone. I had to stand on a box to reach the microphone and read the script. I got a lot of coaching and we did dozens of takes. I don't know if they ever used the work I did, but I was there and I got paid--or my mother received the money. I only saw the movie once with the English dubbing just a few years ago--never saw it in school and never really mentioned it to anybody because I thought no one would believe me or be interested. I just purchased the DVD but it's only Spanish with English subtitles. Does anyone know where I can get the English dubbed version?